This was stunning. I never fail to be impressed by Marcus Sedgwick. It was painful and tense to read with an important message and terribly sad.

"On the top of the hill Christ himself stands with his arms outstretched, facing both Juarez, and, on the other side of the river, El Paso, in a gesture of brotherly love. It’s a misleading gesture. His arms are outstretched because he is nailed to a cross."

The first few reviews for Saint Death have been mostly negative and I honestly wasn't expecting to find Marcus Sedgwick at his finest. But to say I thought this book was fantastic is an understatement - this book may be the best book I've read this year. It is, I think, one of the best YA books I've ever read. That being said, this smart, literary YA isn't for those who shrug their shoulders and say "kids these days have no interest in serious issues". I don't, I can't buy into that way of thinking - it's the kids who must have an interest, if the world is ever to change.

I don't know where to start. This book deeply affected me to the point that I actually cried. It comes at a chillingly appropriate time when issues of immigration and border controls are at the top of the list on every political agenda. Nationalism is on the rise - as it was during the 19th Century as political alignments shifted towards a set-up that would fuel two world wars - and the funny thing is so few people seem to see it.

I'm a Brit living in Los Angeles, which is an interesting view to have right now. My British family and friends are appalled that someone like Donald Trump can become a serious candidate for president, on a platform of hate and racism. "How are people voting for him?!" they say. In my other ear are my American family and friends "I can't believe your people voted for the Brexit. They must be either crazy or racist?" It really makes me worry that one day school kids will write essays on the causes of World War III and talk about how people in the early 21st Century developed an irrational fear of "The Other" - immigrants, refugees, a family crossing the border in the back of a van because they want their babies to grow up without fear.

This book is about that, as well as other things. What kind of world are we creating? What future are we moving towards? Sedgwick focuses on Juarez in Mexico and Mexican immigrants, but what he's ultimately saying is much bigger than that, the bold suggestion that there is no such thing as immigrants. Or, rather, that we are all immigrants out of Africa, and national borders are simply the way rich immigrants keep the poor immigrants confined to poorer areas; often areas that were made poor by the rich.

"And they end up in the rich countries, and you know what people say... ¡Migrants! ¡illegal aliens! But everyone is a migrant, everyone, outside of the African cradle. It's just a question of how back in time you care to look... "

This particular story is about the Mexican Arturo who lives in Juarez, right alongside the gang warfare and drug crime that exists on the US/Mexican border. His adoptive brother - the Guatemalan Faustino - has gotten himself into serious trouble by losing the money of a prominent gang leader. In a story spanning less than 48 hours, Arturo must try to get it back in a suspense-filled journey into the dark corners of the city. With Sedgwick's writing, Juarez comes to life in exquisite detail that equally captures its bright lights and its darkness:

“There are shadows in every alley, every doorway, and the lights of shops and bars and adverts and cars dazzle and blind and make the shadows darker still.”

Saint Death is woven with Spanish phrases and cultural elements - to me, it seems extremely well-researched. I recommend a basic knowledge of the Santa Muerte or "Saint Death" before picking this book up. It helps with understanding that element of the story, and it is also pretty fascinating. I hadn't heard of it before and I love learning something new.

“She’s wearing a white shawl over a long white gown, which reaches to the ground. From under the shawl glimpses of a black wig can be seen, grotesque against the skull face, almost ridiculous, Arturo thinks, and yet it’s more disturbing than it is funny, and in a way disconcerting because it is somehow comical too, and Do not laugh at death, he thinks, we do not laugh at death.”

Of course, enjoying this book depends on your interest in the subject matter, but it was absolutely enthralling to me. Arturo is such a sympathetic character who dares to long for something more than what he has, and parts of the book are filled with such nail-biting tension, hope, and horror because of the reader's desire that he will be different; that he will succeed. His story is peppered with extracts from social media pages, facts about NAFTA, and backstory on him and Faustino - the latter came to Mexico on a gruelling journey from Guatemala, in which he lost both his parents in their desperate search for a better life.

It's really hard to review books like this. I can't fully explain how important it is, how horrifically hopeful and sad it is. Just writing this review and remembering the book has me on the verge of tears. I can only hope you read it.

Located on the border of Mexico and America is Juárez, a town built on greed, corruption and death where corporations bleed people dry before the gangs sink their teeth into them. It is a town born of climate change and pollution, destruction and the pursuit of riches, where thousands of people live in shacks and water is a precious commodity.

What if this is the logical conclusion to the world we are creating?

This is the question Marcus Sedgwick asks in the final pages of his epic novel Saint Death. I say 'epic' but really, the entire novel takes place over 36 hours and takes about that long to read. What makes it so is the entire range of emotions the reader experiences while reading it and the fact that Sedgwick tackles every major issue impacting Mexico today.

And it's not just Mexico. Sedgwick has a message and it is a message he is delivering into the hands of the young adult market. These are the people who can change the world but they can only do it through wisdom, knowledge and understanding of where the world is headed.

Saint Death - Marcus SedgwickI think this is probably the most important book to be released this decade. In the hands of millennials, already questioning how their elders destroyed the world, this book is pivotal.

The story in Saint Death is deceptively simple. Two brothers Arturo and Faustino have grown up in absolute poverty. One day, Faustino comes to Arturo with a problem, he owes a very bad man one thousand dollars. Knowing that Arturo is a master cards player, Faustino begs his friend to help him out.

What do they have to lose, after all?

Predictably, things go very wrong but underneath the surface of what happens in just one day is a story that reaches back to the ancient gods of Mexico and stretches forward to the cults and gangs of the present.

"He is playing calavera with the man who will kill Faustino unless he can take a thousand dollars off him by the end of the night. Standing right behind him is the narco who abducted Gabriel from Anapra that morning".

Every character in Saint Death has a story of loss, persecution and tragedy and Sedgwick weaves these stories together in a plot that is as complex as it is compelling. This is not a book about everyone in Mexico but it is a book about the disappearances, desperation and industrial wastelands of a strip of land on the border with the United States.

I give Saint Death by Marcus Sedgwick a superb five out of five stars and would highly recommend it to readers of quality literary fiction and those eager to learn more about this part of the world.